Lovren says he was not informed of that bid, and has told Southampton that amount should be more than enough to let him leave the south coast.

Lovren reportedly told Croatian website Sportske Novosti: "Liverpool sent a 20 million offer and they [Southampton] paid nine million for me, so they would've earned twice the amount.

"At this point, I don't know what I'll do and I don't like it. It was unbelievable that a few days ago I had an offer of 20 million pounds. It was in the morning and by the afternoon the club had said I was not for sale. Frankly, my head is already at Liverpool.

Lovren, who played at the FIFA World Cup earlier this month, says Southampton are asking for £25m for his services and admits he would have considered staying at the club had they showed ambition and not sold their best players.

Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert have both completed moves to Anfield already and left-back Luke Shaw has completed a £27m move to Manchester United.

He continued: "Honestly, I don't know who the main man at the club is anymore. They are now looking for 25 million pounds, but I don't think they'll get it.

"Look, I'd gladly stay in Southampton if the club had any ambitions, if they kept the key players, not even the Liverpool bid would have dissuaded me.

"When I decided to go to Southampton, many people were surprised, but I went because the people at the club had great ambition.

"They gave me assurances about the project -- the former chairman, Nicola Cortese, and the former coach, Mauricio Pochettino, convinced me. They gave me incredible confidence.

"When I began training there, I realised they had a very good team. They promised to buy two more players -- they bought [Pablo Daniel] Osvaldo and [Victor] Wanyama. They are great players. The aim was to qualify for Europe, to get into the Europa League at least."

Southampton finished eighth last term and manager Pochettino moved to Tottenham shortly after the end of the season. Former chairman Cortese also left the club.

Lovren says the departure of those key figures has fueled his desire to leave the club - as well as they opportunity to play for one of Europe's biggest clubs.

He said: "When the chairman left, and Pochettino was going too as early as April, I realised things had fallen apart.

"Liverpool is one of the biggest clubs in the world. Only Real Madrid have as many fans around the world. The last time I played at Anfield, I got chills when I heard 'You'll Never Walk Alone.' I would like to listen to it all the time."

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The Editor

Alastair Machray

Alastair Machray was appointed editor of The Liverpool Echo in 2005 and is also editor-in-chief of Trinity Mirror Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales. He is a former editor of The Daily Post (Wales and England) and editor-in-chief of the company's Welsh operations. Married dad-of-two and keen golfer Alastair is one of the longest-serving newspaper editors in the country. His titles have won numerous awards and spearheaded numerous successful campaigns.